Lots of little steps to do our bit to help the climate crisis:
Avoiding single-use plastics wherever possible and drastically reducing the amount of other plastics. E.g. my better half now takes a tupperware lunchbox to work instead of using food bags and we tend to store and freeze with various sizes of these too. He also takes a 'keep-cup' or flask for coffee. I do still use baby wipes and cotton buds but not often and when my supplies run out I may try bamboo buds.
Re-using, recycling or re-purposing as much as possible to minimise our contribution to landfill. When kayaking on rivers or lakes (or even just on days out to the country/seaside) we take extra bags and collect any plastic bottles, crisp bags, glass, ring-pulls and the plasic rings that hold beer cans etc together - we round up so much rubbish each time - we shouldn't be surprised at the amount we find, but we always are! We then dispose of things responsibly - recycling items sorted and the rest in proper rubbish bin - one trip to a local lake with islands in it we even removed carrier bags and other plastic from water birds nests (we gathered some small twigs, dried leaves, dried grass etc and left nearby for the birds if they wanted to replace the construction materials we removed - we didn't disturb any brooding birds or eggs.
Recycling/up-cycling all sorts of materials - learning new crafting skills to reduce waste. As tree surgeons, my better half & his business partner will be able to have a steady supply of logs for the wood-burning stove we plan on installing, and they already make things with any good wood they get (sometimes even bespoke items for the customer to have something made from their trees e.g. door plaques, pens, globes, pots, bowls, wood & resin tables, garden benches - a lot depends on the amount, size and quality of the wood, time they have, budget etc). They don't like anything to go to waste if it doesn't have to...sometimes other people want wood chippings or bark areas, tree stumps for stumperies and they've even create a few brilliant and very cute tree stump 'fairy houses' with 'fairy gardens' for customers who want their kids to have a little magic in their own gardens - lockdown has certainly been good for imaginative play. And, of course, logs to burn.
Being mindful with all our gardening - leaving areas wild, scattering wildflowers, ensuring everything we do plant is good for wildlife and pollinating insects. Our new home has a greenhouse so we should be able to grow more all year round. Our intention is to grow more of our food. Multi-layer planting, raised planters, trellis, living walls and roofs. We will also have a rain-catchment system, water butts and compost bins
Providing homes, food and water for as many wild species as we can: bird boxes, bat boxes, hanging feeders, seed trays, water bowls & water baths, nuts scattered in a few trees for the squirrels, small shallow trays of sweetened water, squash, fruit juice of leftover fizzy drinks left out for wasps. We are planning to offer a home to disabled hedgehogs in our new home and have plans for beehives as well. Hedges and climbers have been allowed to grow a bit to give birds and insects cover and nesting sites. Foxes fed nightly - apart from a few items they are allergic to or don't like, all leftovers go in the fox bowls...twice in 30+ year we've been here 'our' foxes have had mange and both times we've successfully treated the whole family - we also provide Arnica tablets and regular finely chopped garlic cloves for them whenever we notice injuries and I admit I will make them a sandwich or something if not much food to give them otherwise (have been known to cook microwave meals a day or two out of date as foxes don't seem to mind!) We've got to know generations of this family and will miss them when we move - hoping current neighbours will provide a few bits for them. We've been told foxes visit the new house so will aim to befriend them.
Using Canvas, leather, cotton, hessian tote/shopping bags and reusing 'bags for life' to do shopping. Reusable and/or washable face masks/face coverings.
Buying as many Fairtrade items as we can. Changing some products for more environmentally-friendly ones - next things we will be trying are more solid bars for soap, shampoo, shaving, laudry, cleaning etc. We already refill smaller bottles with cleaning products and toiletries.
Donating what we can to charity. When selling things online we give between 10% - 100% of the final sale value to our local animal rescue and have been lucky enough to win a few competitions with animal-related food, toys, supplements etc we've been able to give them too (mostly things for their horses and a few prizes our 2 cats have shared with their rescued feline friends). We have swapped/part exchanged goods with friends & family.
Being careful about the amount of water we use - saving what we can to water plants, showering instead of having baths all the time, and often if one of us does have a bath, the other will dip through the same water. If boiling eggs we alow the water to cool before watering plants with it. We've always tried not to waste energy and turn off things not in use. We don't put heating on in winter until we really have to - initially we resort to wearing socks and extra layers of clothing and I'll grab a throw to warp round me if just a bit chilly. Light bulbs are all LED or energy-saving ones. Having a full load before running the washing machine and not dithering or wandering off when ironing. We no longer take foreign holidays to keep our carbon footprint as low as possible. I don't drive and his car is a hybrid electric - even then he will try to do as many errands or shopping as possible in one trip out so not making any extra trips.
Although I am not a vegetarian I do eat a few veggie meals each week, and eat so little meat that, overall, we probably eat less meat than the average couple - we have different preferences and have different proportions of foods - I give him more meat, he'll give me extra veg or salad- works well for us when eating out or at friends, BBQs etc as easy for us to share.
My better half & his business partner/friend are both very good at making things or fixing things so rarely have to buy new stuff. I have been given a sewing machine and hope to learn to sew (long overdue!)
I'm, sure there are probably loads of other small things I've forgotten to list but generally I think we do our best but are acutely aware we all need to be doing more. I'd love to live a life even kinder to the planet, but can't financially afford some of the options I would choose if rich enough!
